AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud - Detailed Comparison

April 24, 2022 6:00 am
by Manek

Cloud technology has been closing the gap between big businesses and the everyday user when it comes to their hardware/software needs. It has also helped big businesses adopt a more lean format when it comes to their hardware while empowering developers with servers at the click of a button.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Detailed Comparison

Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are considered the safest, most flexible, and most reliable cloud services. This blog focuses on the three major Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), namely AWS, Azure, and GCP. If you are thinking about which platform to choose: AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud, this article explains all you need to know.

While AWS rightfully takes the top spot on the CSP food chain, Azure is definitely not far behind, with GCP catching up to the two. Seeing that all three platforms are constantly expanding in order to attract more customers, it only makes sense to compare them to find the best fit for your specific needs.

1Amazon Web Services (AWS)

AWS has been around since 2006 and is by far the most mature, secure, and reliable Cloud platform among the three. It also offers the highest number of services (around 200+). These services fall under many categories, such as compute services like ES2 (Elastic Compute 2), storage services like S3 (Simple Storage Service), and database services like Aurora.

Other services are also provided, like those dealing with AI/ML, backups, serverless computing, networking, DevOps, IoT, AR & VR, etc. Seasoned users find AWS to be perfectly suited to their needs. However, the large catalog of services can overwhelm a first-time user.

In terms of price, the smallest instance (with 2 vCPUs and 8 GB RAM) costs around 69 USD/month while the largest instance (which includes 3.84 TB RAM and 128 vCPUs) costs around 3.97 USD/hour.

Know in detail, why enterprises choose AWS services

2Microsoft Azure

Azure is the second-largest cloud platform on the market. Thanks to its easy integration of Microsoft apps onto the Cloud, it is the go-to option for about 95% of Fortune-500 companies. This does not mean that Azure is only limited to Windows software/apps, either: it also supports open-source technologies, allowing anyone to build and support any application.

Microsoft Azure has a very impressive set of AI/ML and analytics services, called the Azure Machine Learning Service and Azure Power BI, respectively. Azure’s service catalog is smaller than AWS’s, and it appears to be tailored more for enterprise clients rather than single users.

In terms of price, the smallest instance (with 2 virtual CPUs and 8 GB RAM) costs around 70 USD/month (similar to AWS) while the largest instance (that includes 3.89 TB RAM and 128 vCPUs) costs around 6.79 USD/hour.

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3Google Cloud Platform (GCP)

Google Cloud Platform only offers around half as many services as Azure and AWS. However, it shines best when used for its services dealing with Big Data, Google Workspace, enterprise Android, and Chrome OS. This makes GCP the go-to option for app development.

Both GCP and Azure have been around since 2010 and show no signs of stopping their expansion. On the other hand, GCP isn’t particularly favorable to enterprise-level clientele.

In terms of price, the smallest instance (with 2 vCPUs and 8 GB RAM) costs around 52 USD/month, while the largest instance (that includes 3.75 TB RAM and 160 vCPUs) costs around 5.32 USD/hour.

Though this makes GCP the cheapest of all the three cloud platform services, whether or not it is cost-effective will depend on your specific needs.

AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud: Final Thoughts

Compute Services - AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud

SERVICE	AWS	AZURE	GCP
VM (Compute Instance)	EC2 (Elastic Compute)	Azure Virtual Machine	Google Compute Engine
PaaS	AWS Elastic Beanstalk	App Service	Google App Engine
Container	AWS Elastic Container/Kubernetes Service	Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)	Google Kubernetes Engine
Serverless Functions	AWS Lambda	Azure Function	Google Cloud Functions

DATABASE AND STORAGE SERVICES - AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud

SERVICE	AWS	AZURE	GCP
RDBMS (Multiple Database Types – SQL, MySQL, etc..)	AWS RDS	Azure SQL/ Database for MySQL/PostgreSQL	Cloud SQL
NoSQL	DynamoDB, Simple DB	Azure Cosmos DB, Table Storage	BigTable, Cloud Datastore
Object Storage	S3 (Simple Storage Service)	Blob Storage	Google Cloud Storage
File Storage	Elastic File System	Azure File Storage	Google Filestore
Archive Storage	Amazon Glacier	Azure Archive Storage	Google Storage (Archive Storage)
Data Warehouse/Data Lake	Amazon Redshift	Azure Synapse Analytics	Google BigQuery

NETWORKING - AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud

SERVICE	AWS	AZURE	GCP
Virtual Network	Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)	Virtual Network (Vnet)	Virtual Private Cloud (VPC)
Load Balancing	Elastic Load Balancer	Azure Load Balancer	Google Cloud Load Balancing
Firewall	AWS Firewall / Web Application Firewall	Azure Firewall	Google Cloud firewalls
DNS	Route 53	Azure DNS	Google Cloud
			DNS
CDN	Amazon CloudFront	Azure Content Delivery Network (CDN)	Cloud CDN

SPECIALIZED SERVICES - AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud

SERVICE	AWS	AZURE	GCP
DevOps	CodePipeline, CodeBuild, CodeDeploy, CodeStar	Azure Boards, Pipelines, Repos, Test Plans, Artifacts	GCP DevOps, CloudBuild, Artifact Registry
AI & ML	Amazon SageMaker, Amazon Comprehend, Amazon Lex, Amazon Polly	Azure Machine Learning, Azure Databricks, Azure Cognitive Search, Azure Bot Service, Cognitive Services	Vertex AI, AutoML, Dataflow CX, Cloud Vision, Virtual Agents
IoT	FreeRTOS, IoT Core, Greengrass, IoT Analytics, SiteWise	Azure IoT Hub/Central, IoT Edge, Azure Sphere, Azure RTOS	Google Cloud IoT Core
AR & VR	Amazon Sumerian	Azure Mixed Reality (Spatial Anchors/Remote Rendering)	ARCore
Business Analytics	Amazon Quicksight	Azure Power BI	Looker

PROS & CONS - AWS vs Azure vs Google Cloud

AWS

PROS	CONS
Most services available, from networking to robotics Most mature Considered the gold standard in cloud reliability and security More compute capacity vs Azure & GCP All major software vendors make their programs available on AWS	Dev/Enterprise support must be purchased Can overwhelm newcomers with the sheer number of services and options Comparatively limited options for hybrid cloud

AZURE

PROS	CONS
Easy integration and migrations for existing Microsoft services Many services available, including best-in-class AI, ML, and analytics services Relatively cheaper for most services vs AWS & GCP Great support for hybrid cloud strategies	Fewer service offerings vs AWS Particularly geared towards enterprise customers

GCP

PROS	CONS
Plays nicely with other Google service and products Excellent support for containerized workloads Global fiber network	Limited services vs AWS & Azure Limited support for enterprise use cases

A customer’s requirements, usage, and service requirements generally decide the prices charged for making use of Cloud services. Hence, depending on your specific needs (whether as an individual or a corporate entity), either of the three will be more attractive for use than the other.

It is observed that software vendors typically use AWS in order to offer their products to clients through the Cloud, while most companies that are reliant on Microsoft products use Azure for easy migration of their Microsoft files to the platform. GCP is more of a favorite among those who are focused on Google apps and services, such as app developers.

Another aspect to consider is whether the Cloud provider you’re going for is available in your region and whether it complies with all applicable government regulations regarding Cloud servers in your area.

Microsoft’s Azure has the most coverage, while GCP has the least. Judging from ongoing leaps in the field, however, it seems all the three providers are constantly expanding both their services and coverage well into the future. As an alternative, one can always adopt a multi-cloud plan that makes the most of all three platforms in a single structure.

The above comparison between AWS, Azure and GCP in terms of features, price, services, storage, and type will assist you in your decision making. Reach out to Vofox Solutions, consult our cloud expertise, and walk away with a cloud suit that is tailored just for you.